Online travel agencies don't just make life easier for travelers. The best online travel agencies also offer various benefits to business owners. From reaching specific markets to benefiting from the billboard effect, there are many advantages to listing your hospitality business on popular travel sites.
These sites can help you navigate low seasons or ensure you maximize your bookings year-round. Explore how online travel agencies (OTAs) can help you tap into the $521 billion online travel market. In this article, we'll delve into the top OTAs for hoteliers and accommodation providers, outlining their advantages and offering insights on efficient channel management.
Top 10 Highest-Earning Online Travel Agencies
Before you invest time and effort into listing your business on a new channel, you'll want to ensure it helps you acquire new guests. Below are the top 10 online travel agencies worldwide based on annual revenue, as reported by Statista:
- bookingtwo
- Expedia
- Airbnb
- Trivago
- Despegar
- Trip.com
- eDreams Odigeo
- MakeMyTrip
- Last Minute
- Tripadvisor
Delving Deeper into the Best Online Travel Agencies
Not all online travel agencies are created equal. In fact, many channels cater to specific businesses in the best possible ways. While listing your property on the highest-earning online travel agencies is a sound business practice, understanding and leveraging markets where every OTA operates is even better. Let's take a closer look at the best online travel agencies:
Bookingtwo
Bookingtwo is a global powerhouse in the online travel agency industry. Its extensive platform includes a diverse range of property types, from apartments and hostels to hotels and resorts. Thus, it's an excellent OTA choice for various business models. With its user-friendly interface and extensive property listings, Bookingtwo.com attracts travelers from around the world.
Properties can seamlessly integrate with this booking engine, streamlining reservations and room management. On average, Bookingtwo.com charges a 15% commission on bookings, although this rate may vary by region.
Expedia
Expedia is a renowned online travel agency known for its global reach and comprehensive travel offerings. It's a one-stop shop for travelers seeking accommodations, flights, car rentals, and vacation packages worldwide.
Business owners benefit from Expedia's tools like Partner Central, which aids in organizing bookings, optimizing rates, and enhancing visibility. Expedia Rewards, the platform's loyalty program, incentivizes repeat bookings, making it one of the best online travel agencies for hoteliers. However, commission rates range from 10% to 30% depending on the region.
Airbnb
Airbnb stands out as a unique online travel agency, connecting travelers with comfortable private rooms to entire homes for their stay. While initially gaining popularity for its home-sharing platform, Airbnb has expanded to include boutique hotels and traditional accommodations, solidifying its place among our top online travel agencies list.
Providing accommodation to guests, you can tap into Airbnb's vast network. Worldwide. While there are various options, Airbnb charges hosts a commission of 3% on most bookings. In addition, Airbnb charges guests a 14% service fee on top of your specified nightly rate.
Trivago
Trivago is one of the best online travel agencies, but obtaining your property on the site isn't as straightforward as other options available. Trivago is a meta-search engine that scours the internet to score the best hotel deals for travelers. It aggregates hotel listings and prices from various online travel agencies, hotel chains, and booking sites.
Owners can benefit from Trivago by ensuring that their listings are better than other OTAs. Since it doesn't handle direct bookings, Trivago doesn't charge commissions to business owners; instead, it earns revenue from other sites that advertise there.
Despegar
Despegar is one of the best online travel agencies, providing services primarily in the Latin American market. It offers a wide range of travel-related services, including hotel booking, flights, and car rentals. With a strong presence in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, Despegar provides travelers with an easy platform to plan and book their trips.
Business owners looking to enter the Latin American market can benefit from listing their properties on Despegar. It allows them access to a diverse and growing customer base while providing travelers with options and preferences according to their language and desires. Hotels can expect to pay a commission of 10% to 15% on bookings from this site.
What are the benefits of using online travel agencies?
Online travel agencies have revolutionized the hospitality industry's way of operating. They offer a wide range of benefits that cater to both travelers and accommodation providers. In this section, we'll explore some of the key benefits of collaborating with some of the best online travel agencies.
Increased booking volume: The primary goal of listing your property on online travel agencies is to achieve more bookings. These sites have a large audience, which can potentially increase bookings.
Market insights: The best online travel agencies provide valuable data and market insights that can help you understand traveler preferences, booking patterns, and trends. In return, they can inform your pricing, marketing, and property management strategies.
Online reputation: Many OTAs offer a review system that allows past guests to share their experiences. Positive reviews and ratings can build trust and credibility, encouraging potential guests to choose your property.
Easy international access: If you're targeting international guests, top online travel agencies can help you reach travelers from around the world. They often support various languages and currencies, making booking easier for international guests.
Billboard effect: The billboard effect refers to the phenomenon where accommodation providers receive direct bookings on their websites after listing on OTAs. This indicates that these platforms work as powerful marketing and distribution channels.
How to find the best online travel agencies for your business?
Listing your business on all the best online travel agencies is a great step forward; you can get ahead with OTAs. If you want to find the best online travel agencies for your business, you need to identify sites that are suitable for you.
Many OTAs cater to specific audiences, such as thermal and trekking adventures for Surf Trips. Other top online travel agencies cater to various niches, including luxury accommodations, yoga retreats, family hotels, and more. Take some time to research the user base and commission rates of different platforms to determine which OTAs are best for your business.
How can I manage multiple OTAs?
While having a presence on multiple OTAs can offer significant rewards, managing listings and bookings across multiple platforms can be time-consuming. Not to mention, you run the risk of overbookings and other errors. Fortunately, you can use a channel manager to streamline and automate your booking across multiple online travel agencies.
